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Sunday, September 11

All things Thai

We are going on a holiday!
When we sold our farm Peace and I decided we wanted to use some of the money to take the kids overseas. For years we've been struggling, paying a mortgage and whenever the kids asked if they could go on an aeroplane we would always say "oneday".

Well, that day is about to come! Instead of putting it off for ages and planning we just decide to do it now.
Passports are all organised. Tickets are booked. And we are going to Thailand for a month.
Ok, I am just as excited as the kids! I never travelled outside the country as an adult. It's kind of scary though as a first time traveller with four kids in tow.

The kids are pouring over the atlas and the Lonely Planet books. I think we have every book out of the local library about Thailand. Rain is already teaching us about the customs and religion in Thailand. Mr T is imagining allsorts of adventures and Tui just wants to go to the beach!!! Which is hilarious because that is what she wants to do everyday here. She wakes up and says "We go to the beach today Mummy???"
So I guess her wish will come true :) Except this will be a Thai beach (picture mummy lying on the sand drinking cocktails and having many Thai massages!)

So I have three weeks to get organised. Not alot to do or pack for the trip but before we go I want to rent out my spare room. The rent here is killing me and it would be great to have someone in the house while I am away.

Yesterday when he came to pick up the kids Peace helped me fix the roof of the spare room. It is a little room detached from the house with its own little veranda. The roof was a bit leaky. We found lots of roofing iron lying around in the bush (as you do in most country properties in Australia...it's like having old holden wrecks in the yard.) extended the over-hang so water won't run in under the eves, patched the areas with holes and put on heaps of silicone! It should be water tight now!

Today while I had no kids, I painted the walls and layed carpet. It looks great. Well, to be honest, it still looks like a crappy room but it looks a damn sight better than what it did!
It amazes me what people rent around here and the prices of those rentals.

Peace and I have lived in some dodgey lodgings before. But we lived in them by choice. We chose to live with no electricity or bathroom, we chose to live simply, and the rent accordingly was cheap. $50/week, $25/week. Around here similar accomodation is over $250/week!!!

Rentals are scarce around here. It is a popular area but it seems to me wrong that people charge so much rent. Most of these dodgey dwelling are on land that the landlord owns. They have no mortgage, pay no upkeep on the houses (because most of them are termite infested hovels) and most are unapproved dwellings! No, I don't wish the council would come in and tear these houses down, I don't want to dob in all these people collecting rent and not declaring it as income (alot of these places the owners don't want you to collect rent assistance because they are not declaring rent as income) but I think these "hippies" should re-think their values!

So anyway, I'm renting out the room and hopefully it happens in the next couple of weeks.

Also looking forward to a visit from my sister-in-law and nephew next weekend and exciting days planning our holiday.
It's nice to have a plan and something to look forward to.